בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶך–הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסק בְּדִבְרֵי-תורָה.
Blessing Over the Study of Torah
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of Torah.
What's the story behind your name? (English, Hebrew, or otherwise?)
(49) Each one was given responsibility for his service and tribute at the command of ה׳ through Moses, and each was recorded as ה׳ had commanded Moses.
These verses come from Parashat Nasso (read two weeks earlier).
Why do we bring it forward today? What happens next?
(1) ה׳ spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one participant from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.” (3) So Moses, by ה׳ ’s command, sent them out from the wilderness of Paran, all of them being men, leaders of the Israelites.
What similarities are presented between this and parashat Nasso?
Who will be sent and why?
Let's try our hand at Modern Midrash:
Maintaining a close reading of our verses (and a little bit of a love of lingustics!), you're invited to look into why each person might have been chosen to become a scout or spy for the Israelite people. Aim to create a story with the little information you have to work with--and try to scope out: "What's in a name?"
Or, differently stated, "Why is this guy the spy God tried?"
Zaccur: "mindful"
Tribe: Reuben: "behold a son"
Hori: "cave dweller"
Tribe: Simeon: "heard"
Jephunneh: "He will be facing"
Tribe: Judah: "praised"
(7) From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph.
Joseph: "God has added"
Tribe: Issachar: "there is recompense"
(8) From the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea, son of Nun.
Nun: "to increase," "fish," "posterity"
Tribe: Ephraim: "I shall be doubly fruitful"
Rafu: "healed"
Tribe: Benjamin: "son of the right hand"
Sodi: "acquaintance"
Tribe: Zebulun: "exalted"
Susi: "my horse"
Tribe: Joseph/Manasseh: "God has added"/"causing to forget"
Gemalli: "camel driver"
Tribe: Dan: "a judge"
Michael: "who is like God"
Tribe: Asher: "happy"
Vophsi: "rich"
Tribe: Naphtali: "wrestling"
Machi: "decrease"
Tribe: Gad: "good fortune"
Do our names lend meaning to the way we live our lives?
Potentially.
(16) Those were the names of the participants whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea, son of Nun to Joshua.
(1) [THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE MEN.] The reason that Scripture states, "these are the names of the men," after earlier stating, "And these were their names" (v. 4) is to teach us that, unlike Hoshea, their names were never changed.
(1) AND MOSES CALLED HOSHEA [THE SON OF NUN JOSHUA] —
By giving him this name יהושע which is a compound of יה and הושע “God may save”, he in effect prayed for him: “May God save you from the evil counsel of the spies” (Sotah 34b).
Each of Us Have a Name
~Zelda
Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parents
Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear
Each of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our walls
Each of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors
Each of us has a name
given by our sins
and given by our longing
Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love
Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work
Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness
Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death.